Utopia Talk / Politics / Manafort jailed

Paramount Member	Fri Jun 15 13:10:12 Judge jails ex-Trump campaign chair Manafort ahead of trial WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is going to jail. On Friday, Manafort was ordered into custody after a federal judge revoked his house arrest, citing newly filed obstruction of justice charges. The move by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson made Manafort the first Trump campaign official to be jailed as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Already under intense pressure to cooperate with prosecutors in hopes of securing leniency, Manafort now loses the relative freedom he enjoyed while he prepared for two criminal trials in which he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. In issuing her ruling, Jackson said she had “struggled” with the decision but she couldn’t “turn a blind eye” to his conduct. “You have abused the trust placed in you six months ago,” she said. A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and a longtime associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, last week on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, adding to the multiple felony counts he already faced. The charges do not relate to his work on the Trump campaign or involve allegations of Russian election interference. President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on the White House lawn Friday morning and answered questions on topics ranging from his former campaign aide Paul Manafort to the detention of immigrant children at the southern border. (June 15) Manafort, 69, and Kilimnik are accused of attempting to tamper with witnesses in the case by trying to get them to lie about the nature of their Ukrainian political work. Prosecutors say Manafort and Kilimnik tried to get the two witnesses to say that lobbying work carried out by clandestinely paid former politicians only occurred in Europe and not the U.S., a contention the two witnesses said they knew to be false. The distinction matters because unregistered foreign lobbying in the U.S. is a crime, while lobbying solely in Europe would be outside the special counsel’s jurisdiction. Manafort’s attorneys have accused prosecutors of conjuring a “sinister plot” out of “innocuous” contacts. They filed a memo written by one of the witnesses for Manafort that his attorneys say shows the work of the group, known as the Hapsburg group, was European focused. In response, prosecutors filed additional documents showing extensive lobbying contacts by the group in the U.S., which they said showed “the falsity of his representation.” One of the documents was a 2013 memo from Manafort to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. It described how Manafort had designed a program that used the Hapsburg members to lobby U.S. lawmakers and influence American public opinion including meetings on Capitol Hill. Manafort also pleaded not guilty to the latest indictment on Friday. Kilimnik, who prosecutors say is living in Russia, did not appear in court. Mueller’s team has said that Kilimnik has ties to Russian intelligence agencies, a claim he has previously denied. Manafort will remain in jail while he awaits trial in both Washington and Virginia over the next few months. He faces several felony charges — including tax evasion, bank fraud, money-laundering conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent — related to his Ukrainian political work, money he funneled through offshore accounts and loans he took out on property in the U.S. http://apn...-chair-Manafort-ahead-of-trial
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 13:28:26 This is one douchebag that I really want to see do hard time. His contempt for the law is clear as all hell.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 13:29:56 Trump called it very unfair... he supports witness tampering i guess
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 13:33:13 Oh yeah! He's doing it himself. Trump has been signalling to everyone under investigation that he's handing out pardons as if they were fliers so that they will lie and obstruct on his behalf.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 13:36:18 well yeah, i'm not surprised he supports witness tampering a bit odd he's willing to tweet it, but i'm gonna guess his fans will be totally on board as usual
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 13:38:22 He doesn't have anything to worry about. He would have to do something pretty outrageous for Republicans to impeach him, or even discuss it.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 13:45:57 he has done 100s of outrageous things
Paramount Member	Fri Jun 15 14:05:06 ”he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison” So if he is sentenced to life in prison, and if Trump then pardons him, would that be outrageous for Republicans?
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 14:26:55 CNN just had a segment listing some of the many lies Trump told just today on the White House lawn it's ridiculous
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 15:41:36 "So if he is sentenced to life in prison, and if Trump then pardons him, would that be outrageous for Republicans?" Not even a little. They would have to have him redhanded taking money and orders directly from Putin before it would even be a scandal. If Trump was a Democrat, simply having so many ties to Russia. Would be a scandal. Hell simply refusing to reveal his tax forms, or threatening the special counsel not to go through his business dealings would be plenty to launch a ton of congressional investigations. Hell when Clinton was in office, they turned the firing of White House Travel Office staffers into a scandal.
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 15:42:55 "he has done 100s of outrageous things" Yeah but I mean extremely outrageous like turning over military secrets to Russia.
hood Member	Fri Jun 15 15:48:36 Didn't he do that too?
Average Ameriacn Member	Fri Jun 15 16:18:58 "CNN just had a segment" tumbleweed watches CNN!
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 16:19:36 he gave classified intelligence info i'm sure he would give military secrets too given the opportunity, not sure anyone tells him any or that he could retain the knowledge long enough to pass it on
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 18:40:40 suicide poll, who first? Manafort Cohen
murder Member	Fri Jun 15 19:04:41 Why would either commit suicide? They both have pardons in their pockets.
Pillz Member	Fri Jun 15 21:19:43 CNN article mentioned that his defense claimed he couldn't have witness tampered without being aware of who the government witnesses are and proceeded to request a list (and were denied). Which I suppose is true but I guess there must be an equivalent to conspiracy to commit, or something. Anyways this won't touch Trump directly
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Jun 15 21:37:24 if you coach someone on their story you obviously are doing it assuming they might be a witness it is a ridiculous defense
Im better then you 2012 UP Football Champ	Sat Jun 16 00:26:41 Trump's campaign manager for 148 days going to prison and facing life. yeah this won't touch Trump.
Paramount Member	Sat Jun 16 02:59:04 His new campaign people comes from that scandalous Cambridge Analytica who collected data illegally from millions of people. They have only changed the name from Cambridge Analytica to Data Propria now.
murder Member	Sat Jun 16 10:53:39 How are all those people not behind bars yet?
Forwyn Member	Sat Jun 16 15:04:17 Why is the Justice Dept splitting up a family and separating a father from his children?
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